Top 10 John le Carré novels

In the second book of the Karla trilogy, Smiley is now Chief, as the “Circus” (MI6) comes to terms with one of the biggest betrayals in its history. Jerry Westerby, occasional spook and newspaper reporter, is put on the trail of Moscow spymaster Karla, who appears to be behind a Russian laundering operation in the Far East. The book features a lot of fictitious tradecraft jargon, some of which went on to be used in real life by MI6, including “lamplighters”, “scalphunters” and “babysitters”.